The Power of Design: Product Innovation in Sustainable Energy Technologies

C.1 Introduction

At present the fastest-growing renewable energy technology is photovoltaics (PV). This development provides many opportunities for solar cell manufacturers. Manufacturers become more aware of the importance of increasing solar cell efficiency and of the possibilities of designing new types of PV modules with solar cells with an innovative design.

Most of the crystalline PV solar cells have a standard design and appearance. They are blue colored, and the metal contact pattern of these cells is often bounded by an H-shaped pattern (Figure C.1.1). Colors other than blue can be achieved by varying the thickness of the antireflective coating on the top of the cells. This is interesting for PV modules that are implemented primarily in an urban environment, which asks for not only high efficiency but also an aesthetically pleasing appearance.

Figure C.1.1 Solar cell with H pattern

This case considers the restyling of PV modules by modifying the metal contact pattern on multicrystalline solar cells. The main focus is on two-sided contact solar cells, which are usually screen printed on the front side with an H-shaped contact pattern consisting of two busbars that are connected to many smaller contacts, called fingers. Radike and Sumhammer (1999) investigated new possible contact patterns; their paper is the starting point of this case, which was formulated as “the development ...